Laurence v



(No Model.)

L.v.B-ENET. GAS OPERATBD GUN.

- No. 606,115. Patented June l21, `1898.

V Inl/enfor" /g ammey Unirrnn g Stratus LAURENCE v. nnunfr, or mais, FRANCE.

y cAsuoPEaATD GUN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of vLetters Patent No. 606,115, dated J une 21, 1898.

V Application filed January 1l, 1898. Serial No. 666,354. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern.-l

Beit known that I, LAURENCE V. BENT, a citizen of the United States, residiu g at Paris, France, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Gas-Operated Guns, of which the following is a specification.

'These improvements relate to that class of guns in which a portion of the powder-gas is utilized for operating the breech mechanism of the firearm, and more particularly to that class of automatic machine-gun described in Letters Patent of the United States -under date of July 14, 1896, bearing No. 564,043, granted to the Hotchkiss Ordnance Company,- Limited, of London, England.

The object of this invention is to provide ineans whereby the gun will operate automatically when irin g blank ammunitionthat is, ammunition wherein the metallic bullet has been replaced foya wad, Wooden or paper bullet, or other relatively li g-ht proj ect` ile. This class of guns'is operated .by allowing a portion of the powdergas to escape through a port or channel drilled in the barrel-and to impinge against one of the moving parts'of the mechanism. When using ordinary ball ammunition, the gas escapes iinder pressure sufficient to operate the mech- A anism; but with blank ammunition the pressure is not nearly snficient to producethe. desired result. v

r My invention eonsists,broadly speaking, in applying a pierced plug to the muzzle of the gun'l for reducing thearea of 'eXit of the frangible blank bullet or wad and gas, and theref by forcing a sufficient -quantity of gas to pass through .the port orchannel" and loperate the "mechanism, v

Infthe accompanying drawing's,which illustrate lmy invention,' Figure 1 is a vertical lon.` gitndinals'ection ofthe muzzle end of the barrehshcwing the device applied thereto.

Fig; -Zis across-,section ofthe device, thefplug beingshown in end view, not in section. Fig. isa'zfront elevation of the device.

Atthe'muzzleend of the barrel a is -formed thefjannularprojection b', which is finished t0 the'iearfby acenicalsurface c, and the 'muzz'l'eis ceunterboredto form a conical bearing',

.The essential portion of the device is a plug c, which is coned-to the rear to register-With the counterbore d, and in Which is formed a channel g of eXperimentally-determined area, `so as to cause the required amount of gas to pass through the port or channel (not shown) formed in the barrel and to impinge against` cut on the plug. The groove j being widerthan thevdiameter of the pin, the plug. hasa slight' longitudinal play in the casing. Between the casing h and the plug e is interposed a Belleville or other suitable spring lo, and on the cylindrical surface of the plug are cut longitudinal grooves Z. m are drilled through the casing in line with the groove j.- The object of this combination of spring k, grooves Z, and vents m is topro-V vide means whereby in the event of excessive pressure thespring would permit the plug e A series of lateral vents to move vslightly to the front and the surplus gas to pass between the surfaces-in contact 'at d and thencethrough. the gijoovesl and vents 'm to the open air. A

To the rear the casing his' formed into a number' of tiexible arms an, which may be readilysprung over the annular projection b of the muzzle andv engage With the conical..

`surface c. In :order to v facilitate vspringing`I these arms into place,'they. are coned to the.'V

rear at o. In order to prevent the arms springing out of place When iiring, I provide a lock p, whichengages with the screw-thread q on.-

the exterior of the casing h The lock is provided with'a conical bearing-surface@ 'which on screwing the lock home will bear' on corresponding surfaces on`the arms fra, forcing and -holding them in engagement .withthe conical surface c. To facilitate screwingupandunscrewing the lock p, I form upon'it a handles. To prevent the lock pffrom un-l screwingglprovide a pawl t, which ismount- XOO- 'ed on a pivot u in the lockand actuated by.;

a springfu. The toe of. thepaWl-t engages be squared projection fw, the lock is screwedhome by means of the handle s. Then fully home, the pawl t, engaging between two of the arms 'n n, prevents any unlocking during firing. The diameter of the lock p is such as to mask the fore-sight of the gun in order that the gunner may be warned not to iire with ball ammunition.

While the device is shown in combination with a complete and convenient mechanical arrangement for'attaching it to the muzzle of the gun, it is evident that the area-reducing lplug e,which is the essential part of the device,

v by the pressure of the powder-gases may be utilized to operate the gun.

2. In a gas-operated gun, the combination, with the barrel, of a muzzle-plug having an axial channel of smaller caliber than the bore of the gun, and held in elastiecontact with the muzzle, substantially as described and shown and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a gas-operated gun, the, combination,

with the barrel, of a muzzle-plug, substan' tially as described-means for holding itin elastic contact with the muzzle of the barrel, and means for allowing any surplus gas to escape in the open air, substantially as described and shown.

4. In a gas-operated gun, the combination, with the barrel, of a muzzle-plug, substantially as described, a casing for the muzzleplug, means for holding the latter in the casing, means for holding the muzzle-plugin elastic contact with the muzzle of the barrel,

and means for allowing any surplus gas to escape in the open air, substantially as described and shown.

5. In a gas-operated gun, the combination, with the barrel, of a muzzle-plug, substantially as described7 a casing for the muzzleplug, means for holding the latter in the casing, means for holding the casin g to the muz` zle, means for holding the muzzle-plug in elastic contact with the muzzle of the barrel,

substantially as described andshown, and for the purpose set forth. K

6.- In a gas-operated gun, the combination, with the barrel, of a muzzle-plug, substantially as described, a casing for the muzzleplug, means for holding the latter inthe eas-V ing, means for holding the casing to the muzzle, means for holding the muzzle-plug in elastic contact with the muzzle ofthe gun, and means for preventing unlocking during firing, substantially as described and shown, and for the purpose set forth. v

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand, this 23d day of December, 1897, in presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

LAURENCE v BENET.

Witnesses:`

R. H. BRANDoE, CHARLES KUEER. 

